TTM Success - Tyler Wilson

Here is a nice 2015 Topps Update that I got signed TTM by former Oriole, Tyler Wilson.  The Virginia native wasn't an Oriole for long, but I met him a couple of times.  He was a really nice guy.

Wilson (b. 1989) played in the majors from 2015 to 2017 for the Orioles.  He had a record of 8-10 with 77 strike outs and a 5.02 ERA.  I mailed to Wilson on March 7 and got the card back on March 15, for an 8-day TAT. 

A Look at the Signed Baseballs I Got at Fan Fest

When the autograph vouchers were announced for this year's Fan Fest, there weren't a lot of surprises.  Nor were there too many guys left that I hadn't met, yet, so I picked up only a select few vouchers.  I wanted to see Nolan Reimold again, so I bought the session that included him, Brady Anderson and Dylan Bundy.  Melvin Mora was making his first appearance there in a long time, so I wanted to meet him, so I got the Mora, Tim Berry and Dylan Bundy session (so two meetings with Bundy) and finally, I wanted to meet Tyler Wilson, and that session also had Jim Palmer and Christian Walker.  For each voucher I bought, I got a second, so Chris could go through the line with me.

I decided that I really liked signed specialty balls.  I was able to find a real cheap 1996 All Star baseball for Brady Anderson to sign.  As you can see above, the ball looks really good, even though Brady's signature is pretty bad.  Chris also got a plain OMLB signed for me, which was nice.  He knows that all of my stuff will eventually become his, so he did a really good job at Fan Fest in helping me find stuff, and also getting things signed.

For the people that I didn't necessarily need second signed balls of, I let Chris have an OMLB, which he got multi signed by a bunch of the guys there.  I had only taken 14 balls to Fan Fest, then sold two to Ryan, so I needed a way for Chris to enjoy the signings as well.  Also, in a rush to leave on Friday, I had forgotten the large photo that Chris had been getting signed by former Orioles.

I was able to find another specialty ball on Ebay, a 2005 All Star ball.  This one was for Melvin Mora.  I actually got complimented from a fellow O's fan on the ball, which was pretty cool.

The ball turned out really nice, I think.  I really like the different colored seams on the All Star balls.

I was able to meet Hall of Famer, Jim Palmer again, which is always a treat.  I can't count how many times I have gotten his auto at Fan Fest, but I try to every chance I get.  I also traded for a signed Palmer ball from Ryan, then also ended up with Chris's ball.  I had a pending deal with my good buddy Max for one of the Palmer balls in exchange for an upgrade to another one of my Hall of Famers (which I will show another time).  The other, I ended up making a deal with my good friend, Sam for that.  So, of the three I got, I have deals pending for two of them.  The last one I will hold onto for now.

I think, other than Nolan, I was most excited about meeting Orioles pitcher Tyler Wilson.  He just completed his rookie season, and had a pretty decent showing.  He struggled, for sure, but I think he has a bright future with the Orioles.  I had seen him (with Ryan, of course) pitch for Bowie a couple years ago, and really was impressed (much more than I was with the next day's starter, Eduardo Rodriguez),

Wilson was very nice when we signed, and I wished him well for the 2016 season.

I got another ball signed by Christian Walker as well.  His signature has changed since last year, which is interesting.  Walker has a chance to break camp with the O's, unless something drastic happens, and Chris Davis re-signs.  I doubt Davis will be back, so maybe Walker gets his shot.  Who knows.

I'm sure some folks are wondering if I got something signed by Nolan.  I did, but since I have a ton of stuff signed by him that I absolutely love, I decided to do something nice for a friend of mine.  So, I had Nolan sign a ball with a message, and I dropped it in the mail today.  I hope my friend loves it!

So, of all of the baseballs I took with me to Fan Fest, I have one left.  I will likely hold onto it for now, unless I decide to get it signed TTM by someone.

September 2015 Raleigh Card Show Recap

I don't use my total sales at my only gauge for how successful a card show was for me.  If that were the case, this show would be measured as a failure.  I didn't sell enough to break even at this show, but luckily, I sold some stuff to some of my friends online, and that put me back in the black.  Some other things I was able to take away from this show was that I passed out some more of my blog business cards.  I had a couple guys add me to their Instagram pages for future trades.  I also had a bunch of return customers at this show, meaning that people liked me enough to come back by and say hello.

Another thing I look at is what was I able to find at the show?  Well, I didn't really feel like a lot of things jumped out at me, but when I got home and looked through the cards I got, I was really happy to see what I had.  I also used this show as a kickoff to Christmas shopping for some of my fellow collectors.

The above 1980 Exhibits Jimmie Foxx only set me back $2.00.  It scanned really nice, and looks pretty cool in person.  I have quite a few of these oversized cards, and I don't really know how I want to display or store them.  They are wedged against the side of my desk, behind a case of CD-Rs.  Gotta find a better spot for them, but at least they're safe.

Hey, look, I added a new Cal Ripken to my collection!  This is a 2015 National exclusive from the Leaf VIP party.  Apparently, my VIP pass didn't get me in.  That may have been because we were starving at the end, and went to eat some Chicago pizza.

This card, which it's hard to tell, is an acetate.  I really love these cards, and am so happy I was able to get this for $2.00.

I found a nice surprise in a bargain bin for relics and autos at the same place I got the acetate Ripken.  This Tyler Wilson Team USA card cost me only $3.00 and is the first card I have seen of him.  He has been shaky so far, but I see a lot of promise in this kid.  I hope he can harness his talent and become a successful MLB pitcher.  I needed to find some new Orioles to get behind, and I feel like Wilson may be the guy I can start to PC.  It is also kind of cool starting a PC from nothing.  I mean, there are NO base cards or anything laying around in my collection.  I owned nothing of him, and now we start with this really cool relic auto.

I probably had this 1965 Topps Embossed Brooks Robinson somewhere, but for the price of $1.00, I added this one.  It'll go in my Brooks box, and if I have another, I will likely see it when I look in there.  Regardless, these are pretty cool cards.  They don't hold up all that great over the years, but they still are a cool look at early insert cards from Topps.

This is another card that I might have in my collection somewhere.  I picked it up anyway for $8.00 because the guy was nice enough to point it out to me and it is also ORANGE!  I figured that he was having as rough a show as I was, so I went ahead and bought it.  The card is numbered 70/99 and looks pretty awesome.

I had a few people offer up this Chris Davis relic card from 2015 Allen & Ginter, but I held out.  I hoped that I could find one cheaper, and I did.  I got this in a bulk relic deal, and am really pleased that I finally knocked it off the list.

Another part of the bulk relic deal was a card I didn't expect to find, and had I not had my glasses on, I may have missed it.  This is a 2002 US SPX Team USA Winning Materials dual relic of Adam Everett and Brian Roberts.

I actually met a couple kids at the show today who knew Roberts's dad.  That was a cool story to hear.  My Roberts PC has been mothballed, so I will have to dig it out, and add this card to it.  I don't anticipate too many more cards being added to it, so I probably ought to add him to my spreadsheet and go for a few rainbows.

So, in all, while my sales were the worst I have had, I would still call this a successful card show.  I didn't blow my budget, I made a few new friends, kept some returning customers, and added some cool cards to the collection.  Not too bad for two days work.